The present invention deals with a novel apparatus for conducting strength contests generally referred to as arm wrestling or wrist pulling and more particularly to such an apparatus wherein various techniques generally considered to be unfair are entirely or at least to a great extent eliminated. In such arm wrestling contest, the overall object is to grasp hands with an opponent and thereafter attempt to force his arm downwardly onto a contest surface such as a table or the like. In such contest the opponent's elbows should remain generally in place and the force applied such that the back and forth arm motion takes place in an upright plane generally normal to the contest surface. There are, however, several techniques for gaining an unfair advantage over an opponent including (1) instead of pushing the opponent's arm towards the down position, the opponent's hand is pulled away from him leaving his wrist and hand bent slightly backway thereby reducing his pushing power (this is known as "breaking the opponent's wrist"); (2) instead of pushing the opponent's arm towards the down position, his arm is pulled away from him leaving his arm outstretched accordingly reducing his pushing power; (3) instead of pushing the opponent's arm towards the down position, the opponent's arm is held in either of the positions described in 1 and 2 above (this action tires the opponent); (4) to reduce the opponent's power, body weight is utilized in conjunction with the techniques described in 1, 2, and 3 above; (5) the use of the non-pulling arm as a brace against any object either alone or when combined with techniques described in 1 to 4 above also helps to unfairly overcome an opponent; and (6) feet bracing by contacting one's feet in a bracing position to the floor or leg bracing to portions of the table or bench on which players are positioned is another technique either utilized alone or in conjunction with the techniques described in 1 through 4 above also adds strength to unfairly overcome an opponent.
It is, accordingly, the overall object of the present invention to present an apparatus which when utilized in such arm wrestling contest will eliminate or at least reduce the number of unfair advantages or tricks that one opponent can utilize against another so as to generally assist in the promotion of fairness in such contest. The above and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by the provision of an apparatus for conducting arm wrestling contests between a pair of opposed contestants comprising a frame having a pair of laterally spaced, arcuately-shaped members adapted for upright positioning on a contest surface and defining an arcuately-shaped track, an elongated lever arm having upper and lower ends, said lever arm pivotally supported at its lower end proximate said contest surface and engaged in said track at its upper end for side-to-side arcuate movement within the limits defined by said frame, said arm including a pair of laterally spaced hand grip portions positioned along the extent of said arm intermediate the ends thereof, signal means including activation means positioned on said frame at the opposite ends of said track for contact by said arm when moved to either of its side-to-side limits for activating said signal means.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawing.